1855 Imperial Gazetteer Volume One, UK

This leather-bound gorgeous 1300-page book is the volume one of the 1855 version of the "Imperial Gazetteer; A General Dictionary of Geography, Physical, Political, Statistical and Descriptive." (2-volume book) which was published by Blackie & Son (Glasgow and London, UK).

The first version of the Gazetteer was published in 1850 by the same author, W.G. Blackie, PhD. It was a famous gazetteer, the 1855 American gazetteer "Pronouncing Gazetteer", which I posted before, frequently quoted from it. However, the great gazetteer had to be totally re-written in only five years, which may show how enormous the updated geographical information was in the mid-19th century.

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The Imperial Gazetteer was also mentioned in the three-volume book "A Study of Historical Evidence of Takeshima (竹島考証)" (1881) of Japan [Section No.12: Argument on Matsushima II (松島之議ニ）] concerning Dagelet island.

This gazetteer mentioned not only Dagelet island but also Corea (Korea) in details.

[Please click the left photos - You can read the whole section of "Corea".]

Let's see the section of "Corea" first. The 2-page section included lots of information such as products, manufactures, commerce and government.

Here is the first part of the section:

COREA, or KOREA [called by the natives
Tsjo-sien, by the Chinese, to whom it is tributary, Kao-li, and by the Japanese
Ko-rai, whence its European name of Corea, or Korea], is an extensive country in
N.E. Asia, whose limits are not accurately known, bounded, N. by Manchooria,
from which it is separated by the Amba Chayan Alin mountains; N.W. by the
Chinese prov. Leao-tong, from which it is separated by a wooden stockade, now in
ruins, and connected with the great wall of China; E. by the Sea of Japan, S. by
the strait of Corea, and W. by the Whanghai, or Yellow Sea, and the Gulf of
Leao-tong. The cap., King-hi-tao, is situate on the Kiang river, in the centre
of the kingdom, lat. 37° 40' N.; and long. 127° 20' E. Corea comprises a
peninsula with a small portion of the continent to which it is attached - the
continent portion extending in breadth from lon. 124° to 132° E., the peninsula from lon. 125° 15' to 131° 30' E., its average width being about
135m., while the total length of the country, from N. to S., is somewhat less
than 600m., between lat. 33° 20' and 43° N. Corea also includes numerous groups
of islands in the Yellow Sea and strait of Corea, and the island of Quelpaert,
50m. S. the peninsula. Area of continental portion, about 80,000
sq.m.

The location of Korea (longitudes and latitudes) is the same as one of the "Pronouncing Gazetteer" (1855, USA) , which may indicate that the "Pronouncing Gazetteer" referenced the "Imperial Gazetteer" (maybe the 1850 version).

To follow is from the section of "Corean Archipelago":

CHOREA, or KOREA (ARICHPELAGO OF), or COREAN
ARCHIPELAGO, ann extensive group, or a series of groups, of islands, chiefly in
the Whanghai or Yellow Sea, W. coast, Corea, and extending from the island of
Quelpaert; lat. (N. part) 33° 29' 42" N., lon. 126° 56' 30" E. to lat. 36° 50'
N. They are very imperfectly known, but from several groups, of which, reckoning
S. to N., may be named, Port Hamilton, Lyra's, Amherst's, Hatton's, and
Clifford's islands. They are chiefly of granite rock, rising at times to sharp
peaks of 2000 ft. high, and having frequently most fantastic shapes, and rugged
and bare; besalt likewise occurs, and sometimes is columnar. Many of the
islands, however, are fertile, and covered with a luxuriant vegetation, and the
hamlets and houses of the more wealthy inhabitants are often delightfully
situate, embossed in shady groves, with verdant meadows beside, browsed on by
numerous cattle. The houses consist of sitting room, a sleeping apartment, and a
shed for culnary purpose. A main occupation on many of the islands, more
especially those having little vegetation, is fishing, which, in fact, must from
the principal source of subsistence to the inhabitants. See
QUELPAERT.

And to follow is the section of "Dagelet island", which "A Study of Historical Evidence of Takeshima (竹島考証)" referred to:

DAGELET, an isl. Sea of Japan between isl.
Niphon and the peninsula of Corea; lat. (N. E. point) 37° 25' N.; lon. 130° 56'
E. (R.); so named by La Perouse, who visited it in 1787. It is about 9 m. in
circumference, and the shore is environed by a perpendicular wall of rock. It is
covered up to the summits of its highest elevations with wood.

It seems that Korean peninsula may have included Ulleungdo (Dagelet island), considering from the longitude mentioned above (131° 30' E), but it didn't include Liancourt Rocks. Many other books and maps indicated the same - now it has been clear to all of us that Korea didn't have Liancourt Rocks actually in the 19th century, at least the world didn't think that Korea had some islands easter than Ulleungdo (Dagelet).

Liancourt Rocks were discovered by a French ship in 1849, six years before the publicated year of this gazetteer but I couldn't find the section of Liancourt Rocks in this volume because the volume one of the book contained sections from A to I in the alphabetical order, not the section of L.